


It's Morphin' Time!

by TDWidow



Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV), Mighty Morphin Power Rangers
Genre: Angel Grove, Buffy Season 3, Gen, Original Power Rangers - Freeform, Slayer Mission, demonic energy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-30
Updated: 2020-05-30
Packaged: 2021-03-03 05:15:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,584
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24449455
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TDWidow/pseuds/TDWidow
Summary: Giles sends Buffy after a demonic presence in the California desert, lingering somewhere near the city of Angel Grove. Tension, fighting, and weird relationships ensue. MMPR / Buffy S3, set between "Dead Man's Party" and "Faith, Hope, and Trick"
Relationships: Kimberly Hart/Tommy Oliver, Other Relationship Tags to Be Added
Kudos: 1





	It's Morphin' Time!

**Author's Note:**

> This entire fic came out of the fact that Walter Jones (Zach the original Black Ranger from MMPR) is in one episode of S4 of Buffy. This takes place during the very early MMPR episodes (before Jason, Trini, and Zach leave) and at the beginning of S3 of Buffy (between the zombie attack and Faith's appearance). Enjoy!
> 
>  **Disclaimer** Own no one.

Buffy had never expected to think this, but being back in Sunnydale was kind of a relief.

She had needed to leave – she understood that even if her friends didn’t – but her aborted escape to Los Angeles had just proven to her that monsters were going to follow her everywhere. At least in Sunnydale, she had her family and friends.

Sort of. They seemed less mad since the zombie attack, but things were definitely still weird.

She still wasn’t allowed into Sunnydale High, so when Giles called her and asked her to stop by, she knew it had to be important. The gates in front of the school were closed, but Buffy knew they would be opened at lunchtime. Five minutes to go.

She loitered on the sidewalk, waiting for the flurry of movement and noise that came with the beginning of Sunnydale High lunch. Giles was still working on getting her allowed back in school, but it was taking forever. Snyder was hell-bent on keeping her away. Buffy had wondered if he was literally being forced by some minion of hell to keep her out or maybe using a spell to keep her out, but that was probably giving him too much credit.

A normal person wouldn’t have been able to, but Buffy’s Slayer hearing picked up the shrill ring of the bell announcing lunch. She backed away from the iron gates before the stream of seniors with open campus privileges came streaming out.

Giles waited until after the last stragglers were off down the sidewalk and the underclassmen were settled in their various spots on the lawn before stepping out onto the sidewalk and nearing her. “Buffy,” he said.

“Giles, hi,” she said. Damn her, her voice sounded thin and stringy. This was Giles; it wasn’t anyone to be scared of.

And yet, scared she was. Scared of what he thought of her.

“Hello,” he said, sounding just as nervous as she felt. This was off to a great start. “How is your mother doing? After the, uh, the party.”

“You mean the party where a horde of zombies attacked and her new best friend turned into a flesh-eating voodoo demon?” Buffy shrugged. “She’s dealing”

Giles gave her that nervous smile he had. “Good, good.”

When he didn’t continue, Buffy said, “So…?”

“Right, yes. Thank you for stopping by. My apologies we can’t go into the library.”

Considering that the last time she was in the library, she had to see Kendra’s body, Buffy was fine with staying outside. She shrugged. “No big. What’s up?

They stood in uncomfortable silence for a minute. Buffy’s spirits sank further; even when things had been at their worst, she and Giles were never uncomfortable with each other.

“I have an assignment for you,” Giles finally said, with a little bit of a nervous stutter. “If you’re up to it.”

“Sure,” she replied. “Slayer Girl is at the ready.”

“Have you ever heard of a place called Angel Grove?”

It sounded familiar, but Buffy couldn’t place it. “Nope. Is it all Hellmouth-y?”

“I’m not sure.” Giles removed his glasses to clean them. “There are have been several disturbing reports coming out of such a small city, and the portents are troubling as well. I’ve also just received word from a friend that there is a stable, stationary demonic presence there.”

“Find him, make with the slayage,” Buffy said. “Got it. I’ll leave right away.”

“One more thing,” Giles said. “There seems to be a band of vigilante fighters in the city already. The Power Rangers, the news calls them. They seem to be quite good at keeping the city safe.”

The name clicked in Buffy’s brain, bringing back one of the fuzzy news stories that she used to watch early in the morning in her tiny Los Angeles apartment. “That’s why I’ve heard of Angel Grove,” she said. “They’re those guys who drive around in giant robots and fight monsters.”

“Yes, I believe so.”

She pouted teasingly. “How come you’ve never gotten me a giant robot?”

Giles put his glasses back on, fumbling for words. He seemed to miss her tone. “I never regarded vampire slaying as something that needed – ”

“Giles, chill. It was just a joke.”

“Oh.”

Another awkward pause. “So,” Buffy asked, “should I find these ranger guys and team up with them? Or you think they’re working for the big bad?”

“I don’t know.”

Buffy nodded. “Okay. Low profile then. This shouldn’t take long.”

She turned to leave, but Giles put a hand on her shoulder to stop her. “How are you, Buffy?”

Suddenly unable to look him in the eye, she glanced down at the sidewalk. “Fine.” Then she shook his hand off of her shoulder and turned to leave.

“You will let me know when you get there safely?” he asked from behind her.

There was a tremor in his voice and it occurred to Buffy that he was afraid for her to leave Sunnydale. It would have been easy to just keep walking and let him worry, but she so badly wanted everything to go back to normal. She made herself turn around. “I promise,” she said. “I’ll be back in a few days.”

The relief in his eyes broke her heart. She knew that she had hurt him, deeper than she had hurt Willow or Xander or even her mother. But she had no idea how to fix it. Would he ever trust her again? She knew that she hadn’t been the perfect model Slayer – meeting Kendra had certainly showed her that – but she always thought that Giles knew that this was how she worked best. Or at least tolerated her unorthodox (his word – not hers) methods.

When Buffy reached her house, her mother’s car was in the driveway and her heart sank. What was she going to say to her mom? Even if it was for a Slayer-related trip, Buffy knew that Joyce was going to freak when she heard that Buffy was planning on leaving even for a few days. She stood on the porch for a moment, wringing her hands, then threw her shoulders back and walked through the front door.

“Buffy? Is that you?”

Buffy followed the voice into the kitchen. “Hi, Mom.”

Her mother was washing dishes, and Buffy wondered why she was home in the middle of a workday. Probably afraid to let Buffy out of her sight, which did not bode well for this going-to-Angel-Grove thing. “What are you doing home?”

Her mother shrugged. “The gallery is closed for the day, so I thought I would take a day off from cataloguing statues.” She glanced back over her shoulder. “I’ve had my fill of tribal art for a while.”

Buffy smiled slightly. “Yeah.” _Be brave, Summers,_ she told herself. _Your mom is not scary._ “I just saw Giles,” she said. “At the school.”

Joyce turned around, looking hopeful. “Have they let you back into school?”

“Not yet,” Buffy answered, feeling ashamed at how the hope faded from her mother’s face. “Giles is working on it, though,” she offered.

“Well I’m sure Mr. Giles is doing his best,” Joyce answered, talking to the soapy dishes.

There was silence. Buffy took a deep breath. “He gave me assignment, though. Giles did. A…Slayer assignment.”

Her mother said nothing, continued to scrub at some baked-on tomato sauce.

“I have to go away for a few days.”

At that, Joyce dropped the dish back into the water and turned around. Buffy plowed on. “It’s a town called Angel Grove, out in the desert. There’s a, some kind presence there – I just need to go check it out. It will only be for a few days.” Joyce didn’t say anything, clamping her mouth shut and closing her eyes. Buffy bit her lip. “Mom, I promise. I won’t be gone long, and I will be right back.”

There was silence in the kitchen, broken only by occasional water dripping into the soapy sink. When Joyce finally opened her eyes, they were damp and scared, but her voice was firm. “Okay.”

Clouds of stress evaporated from her shoulders. Buffy attempted a small smile. “Okay?”

“Yes,” Joyce said with a nod. “If you say that you promise to come back, then I will believe you.”

“You won’t even realize I’m gone,” Buffy said, smiling. But the look of strained panic on her mother’s face made it clear - too soon for jokes about disappearances. “Sorry.”

“How will you get there?” Joyce asked, turning back to the soapy dishwater.

“There’s a bus that goes out there.” Buffy glanced at the clock on the stove. “If I leave soon, I can get there before dinner time.”

Her mother just nodded, and Buffy fled up to her bedroom to throw the important things in a bag. As she piled her most desert-appropriate clothing into a backpack on top of several jars of holy water and her backup stakes, she blinked back the burning sensation in her eyes and wondered if her family in Sunnydale would ever accept her back. She had expected anger, even resentment, but this distant distrust was worse than anything she had thought of. Even Willow and Xander seemed not to believe she wouldn’t turn tail and run again at a moment’s notice.

Buffy threw in a few extra weapons just in case, and zipped the back shut. Then she pulled on her most durable yet fashionable boots and went to say goodbye to her mother before walking to the bus.


End file.
